- Israel Police raided on Monday night the Rishon Letzion
offices of Remedia, the company that sells a soy-based baby formula suspected
of causing the deaths of three infants. Spokesmen for the German firm Humana,
which manufactures the product specially for Israel, said that contrary
to the Israeli findings, the formula contains the B-1 vitamin as listed.
Health Ministry officials never checked the product; the Mossad is involved
in the investigation.
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- Health Ministry officials were considering removing all
Remedia products from the shelves, despite allegations connecting only
the soy-based Super Formula product with the deaths of the infants, and
the hospitalization of twenty others.
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- Ministry officials announced on Friday that the formula's
lack of B-1, an essential vitamin also known as thiamin, had caused a deficiency
that led to acute beriberi. Media reports have also said that the babies
died due to encephalopathy, a brain disease.
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- Worried parents were instructed by the ministry on Sunday
to bring in babies who had eaten the Super Formula products in the last
few months for checkups at medical clinics, where many were given B-1 injections.
The Jerusalem Post reported today that a number of American Jewish babies,
who had been fed Remedia due to its kosher certification, were hospitalized
with neurological symptoms.
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- "There is a direct link between the total lack of
vitamin B-1 in the Remedia formula that led to beriberi and two deaths,"
said Manfred Green, director of Israel Disease Control at the Health Ministry.
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- State Prosecutor Edna Arbel ordered the launch of a criminal
investigation into Remedia on Monday, after ministry officials stated that
the product did not have the required amount of the B-1 vitamin as listed
on its container. Police raided Remedia's offices, confiscated files and
computers, and questioned the Israeli firm's top executives.
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- Two separate civil lawsuits were filed Monday at Tel
Aviv District Court against Remedia for NIS 1 billion and NIS 115 million,
respectively.
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- According to media reports, the Health Ministry never
checked Remedia's soy-based product, but only approved its import from
Germany. "Other Remedia products were checked, but the soy-based product
didn't come up as a random sample and was never checked," a ministry
official told Maariv. According to the official, the product was cleared
for import based on tests conducted in Germany.
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- The Health Ministry dispatched a four-man team to Germany
to investigate Humana's special kosher product line.
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- At a news conference in Herford, Germany, Humana chief
Rolf Janshen said the formula recipe was unique to Israel and no other
markets were affected. He said Humana had commissioned independent laboratories
to check the formula and "contrary to the Israeli findings, vitamin
B-1 has been found."
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- In a statement issued by the company, Humana said the
formula was kosher, manufactured under rabbinical supervision to insure
it complied with Jewish dietary law, and followed specifications provided
by Remedia. "Humana is doing everything it can to obtain further information
that will clarify the matter. As well as the baby food, the illnesses may
have had other causes," the statement said.
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- According to Yediot Aharonot, the German weekly Der Spiegel
reported in October 1995 that Humana had sold baby products containing
proteins to infants that were allergic to proteins. Following the report,
a civil suit was filed against the company and German authorities launched
an investigation. Der Spiegel also reported that impurities were found
in Humana products.
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- According to a Maariv report, the Health Ministry asked
the Shin Bet and Mossad security services to become involved in the Remedia
investigation due to the suspicion that the formula's lack of B-1 vitamin
could have been caused by terrorists. A senior Health Ministry official
told Maariv that because the Humana production line was geared specifically
for Israel, and for Jewish babies, someone could have intentionally tampered
with the formula's composition. Officials at the Shin Bet and Mossad would
not confirm the report, the paper said.
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